1st Samuel 28:3-20 SAUL AND THE WITCH OF ENDOR 4-20-13
Was the spirit that was supposedly summoned up by the witch of Endor really the deceased Prophet Samuel, or was it a demon? There are many different opinions on the matter; my personal opinion is that it was a demon.
To begin with, God would not call Samuel up--Saul makes it clear that God was no longer speaking to him.
There are many scriptures that speak out against such an abominable practice therefore it's inconceivable that God would grant credibility to it in order to communicate with a man, especially since God had already taken the position of not communicating with King Saul.
So did Samuel really come back from the dead and communicate with Saul?"
Are we really supposed to believe that Samuel, a servant of God, would favor those that God no longer communicates with? -- And why would a person think that a dead prophet could do more for him than the living ones?
There are a lot of well schooled Bible believers who say that the witch of Endor actually called up Samuel from the dead, but to me, only God can call back the dead.
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>>1 Chronicles 10:13 So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it; --
God condemned the thing that Saul did and He would never bless such as this, also God said in;
>>Leviticus 20: 27A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.
= God would never put His stamp of approval on any such demonic activity.
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Even in our day and time there are tarot cards, palm readers, horoscopes and Ouija Boards, all these are modern forms of spiritism. They are dangerous links to the demonic, even if undertaken in a spirit of fun; people should stay clear of such, as we would a rattle snake.
These so called mediums have what is called a "séance" where gullible people give a lot of money to be deceived into believing that their hearing from a dead person, and often the so called mediums themselves believe the messages they receive are from spirits of the dead.
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>>Deut.18: 9-12 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. 10There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 11Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.* 12For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD:
>> Lev. 20:6 And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring * (spiritual adultery) after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.
= To me it is outside the realm of reason to even consider God allowing this witch to call up His Prophet Samuel, so I'll have to stand with the minority and say that the witch of Endor called up a demon pretending to be Samuel.
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* As we get into our text today here in 1st Sam.28: I believe we'll have to agree that Saul's experience with the witch at Endor was purely Satanic.
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* Listen as I read from 1st Samuel 28: as to what happened.
3Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.
= In Saul's earlier day's he was influenced by Samuel's leadership, and he obeyed the commands in the Mosaic Law, he cast out those who practiced occultic arts. But later he begin to go away from God, he became high-minded and rebellious.
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4And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and pitched in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa.
5And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled.
= remember, the HOLY SPIRIT had departed from Saul; he felt alone, he was afraid.
>>1 Samuel 16:14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
= After the death of Samuel (the only man to have much spiritual influence on Saul) his courage seems completely gone.
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6And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.
=Many times when folks become fearful and it seems death is near they'll call out too God out of sheer desperation, wonder why they don't cry out too Buda or Allah or any other number of so called gods?
* A man told me one time that when he was in hot combat in WW 2 that he prayed to God, him being scared to death, he said he promised God that if He would bring him safely back home here in S.C that he would live for Him for the rest of his life, but when he come safely back home he didn't keep his promise.
In the latter years of his life he did live for the Lord, he died 79 years old saved.
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>>Isaiah 26:16 LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.
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= Saul is abandoned by God, and he is desperately afraid of the advancing Philistines.
>> Hebrews 10: 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
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7Then said Saul unto his servants, "Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her."--- And his servants said to him, "Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor."
= Saul knew what he was doing was wrong-He himself had ordered all the fortune tellers and spirit mediums removed from the land prior to his seeking out a medium, but here is one still there, and notice Saul servants knew about her, it sounds like their also wayward from God.
So Saul was receiving no help or advice from Heaven so in desperation he turns to hell.
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8And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night:* (the devil is the prince (ruler)of darkness) and he said, "I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee."
= This tells us that it was generally believed that souls truly existed after death and that when people die their still alive.
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9And the woman said unto him, "Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?"
10And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, "As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing."
= If you'll recall in Luke 16: we have the record of righteous Lazarus the beggar, and the rich lost man, neither were permitted to come back to the land of the living.
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11Then said the woman, "Whom shall I bring up unto thee?" And he said, "Bring me up Samuel."
12And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, "Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul."
= it is evident that her familiar spirit informed her that this man requesting to speak to Samuel was actually Saul.
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13And the king said unto her, "Be not afraid: for what sawest thou?" -- And the woman said unto Saul, "I saw gods ascending out of the earth."
14And he said unto her, "What form is he of?"-- And she said, "An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle."-- And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.
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= Notice; Saul never saw this so called Samuel; it was the witch and she possibly never had seen Samuel when he was alive, she said she saw an old man covered with a mantle. -- these would be the garments that a judge would wear.
And they both jumped to the conclusion that it was Samuel, and when they did, the demon answered as Samuel-- demons can impersonate people.
At this point Saul has laid himself wide open for Satan, and Satan now has control of the situation.
=From time to time we hear of people telling of seeing their deceased loved one, how that he or she did this or that, demons can do a good job impersonating people, --- let me say, I certainly believe that Gods angels can and do protect us from time to time if it's Gods will, but Gods angels will never take on the appearance our dead loved ones.
Any communication that looks supernatural (and it may be supernatural) comes from the pit of hell.
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* Listen to the demon pretending to be Samuel conversing with Saul, and remember Saul has not saw Samuel, he is only assuming it to be Samuel.
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15And Samuel * said to Saul, "Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up?"
=Notice the demon in here finding out what Saul wants to hear.
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And Saul answered, "I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do."
= This shows us that it was a demon that impersonated Samuel, because the true Samuel would never have acknowledged such a power in witch craft.
= Notice, Saul's own words, "God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do."
=As if Samuel could or even would override God's decision.
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16Then said Samuel,* "Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?
17And the LORD hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the LORD hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David: 18Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the LORD, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done this thing unto thee this day. 19Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines."
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=Let's be sure and notice, nothing new is added to what has been previously said, Saul didn't gain any comfort, any direction, or any new information from his excursion into the spirit world.
The information given by the demon was all common knowledge among the people of the land and even among the philistines.
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20Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.
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= Because of King Saul's disobedience to God and becoming so wayward in his spiritual life, he had laid himself wide open for Satan.
The dead cannot communicate with the living. This was satanic from beginning to end.
What would cause someone to contact a witch or a spirit that can give them inside information?
Common sense should tell people that if that person is actually in touch with the spirit world, the information surely comes from hell, not from heaven.
